Will this month never end? As much as it seems that November will never get here, it also seems that October never happened. I guess that's what I get for never being home.

I read "The Secret Garden" flying between OH and CO. I loved this paragraph from the Ben Weatherstaff chapter. I get what she's writing about. It's that brief, fleeting moment of perfection, of feeling that things are right in the world, of happiness without distraction.

Here's to those moments. Enjoy.

"One of the strange things about living in the world, is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live for ever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands alone and throws one’s head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one’s heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising of the sun - which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. One knows it then for a moment or so. And one knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear, however much one tries. Then sometimes the immense quiet of the dark-blue at night with millions of stars waiting and watching makes one sure; and sometimes a sound of far-off music makes it true; and sometimes a look in someone’s eye."

-Francis Hodgson Burnett
“The Secret Garden”

Dorothy had it right

There's no place like home.

Got back to my apartment last night around 10:30. It felt wonderful! Granted, I don't have much time to enjoy it and I'm avoiding my suitcase, but it feels good to walk on my carpet, sleep on my bed...

As much as I wanted to get out of Modesto, I'm kinda bummed to have left. Got alot of things accomplished and organized and set up, but I don't know who's coming in behind me and if they'll find things or if they'll keep things organized or just be messsy. I'll probably meet up with the labs in Yuma, AZ though if not sooner. I'll give them a one, two if they've dirtied my trailer!! ;P

But...I have a soccer game in an hour and I really should brush my teeth. Guess I have to delve into the suitcase.

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The sun will come out tomorrow...

...it always does. I'm working days again, but the days last 15+hours. But it's been good getting the chaos under control and getting the labs set up. I don't know if I've written about this before, but the area of the plant is lovely. Green fields set up against the mountains. Lovely.

I heard on the news the other day about a Romaine lettuce recall. Apparently their irrigation showed some E. coli. Granted, it wasn't O157, but I guess they're just being extra cautious. It was cool because I thought it could've been some water that I tested. I'm not just looking at spinach. I'm testing all sorts of lettuce, field samples and water samples. It's neat to be contributing to society in a visible way. I know that testing beef is a good thing, it saves people, but it's not like I'm a nurse or teacher. It's a behind the scenes type thing (which is fine), but it's hard to remember sometimes that what we're doing makes a difference, which sometimes makes it hard to do the job. So I know what has happened is horrible, but it's good to know that we do make a differnce. We're contributing.

I don't know if that makes sense. It's late and I should be taking advantage of the time to sleep! It's just that we've (boss-man and I) been talking alot about the food industry, our place in it, our contributions, etc.

But, the sun WILL come out tomorrow (or this morning) and I should grab some shut-eye.
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Modesto-->Gilroy-->Sand City-->and back

So I'm getting moved back to days which is great. One of my co-workers came out for the weekend so I didn't have to work as long this weekend. Late nights for training, but not full nights of work:) Another fella is flying in tonight for nights, so I'll be up later tomorrow training...but I could probably sleep in the truck on the way to Gilroy to pick up samples. Which is what I did today!

Hans and I got a later start Sunday, so I was able to get a decent amount of sleep. The picture is of me at "work". Pretty, ay? The scenery I mean. The plant is actually about 30-45 mins away, so we just headed to the beach for some quick R&R. It was nice. Very picturesque.

I have practically no voice. It didn't help that Hans and I played 20 questions and 6 degrees on the drive back to Modesto (about 2hrs). Then they made me order the pizza! I'm surprised the pizza guy was able to understand me.

So today was fun. But it's late and I have the opportunity to get some good sleep on tonight so I'm going to grab it!

Dream of beautiful places.
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My Sleep Number

9. My sleep number is 9. Not 8, not 10, but 9. 9 hours is the perfect amount of time needed for sleep. And thankfully, I got that yesterday! Feels great.

Other things I've learned in the past 20 odd hours: I.T.s tend to be named Alex. California smells good. If I want it, this new lab is mine. Snails are cool. But where do the snails go during the day? I have a week to find the answer to this one.

I can't eat salad anymore. I got one with a sandwich yesterday and I could barely look at it. Especially the spinach:) I ended up eating the veggies and tossing the greens.

Hmmm...nothing exciting goin on I guess. I spilt my smoothie in the rental. That was...something.

Sweet Dreams!

Day ??

I got called into the principal's office today. And by principal, I mean owner of JL. And, I got ratted out by the lab director.

I had just finished trashing the samples when teh lab director came out and asked where the samples were. "The trash", I reply. He shakes his head and goes tattle to the owner. Myself and the girl who helped me got called in over the lab intercom. I couldn't believe it! I was standing right near the office doors! They told me what I already knew about there being "critters" in the media. I told them that yesterday, I was told to just throw everything in the dumpster. More headshaking and lecturing.

Dumpster diving ensued.

It's been a LONG day and I can't sleep even though I'm tired.

One cool thing: the LD and another gentleman, Lucio, were the ones leaning into the dumpster. Lucio did NOT want to. I kept saying to "let me", "I didn't mind", "it was my fault", etc...but Lucio waved me away and said "No, you are a lady. I won't have it." He's Italian. :) I thought it was nice. He's been one of the few nice people. Alot of folks didn't like the IEH takeover and it probably doesn't help that Hans and I have commandeered parts of the lab and get priority. Whatever.

Since I couldn't sleep and I needed actual food I went to have an early dinner at Mimi's Cafe. Yum! Nice atmosphere too. It's kind of gawdy-cajun-bistro with 40s/50s jazz. Amazing muffins and bread with the meal. I had cajun spiced chicken with fresh fruit and salad (no spinach). Highly recommend it!

I'm getting sick, I'm already tired, and I don't like eating out so much. But overall, I'm having a great time. It's been extremely challenging and it's been great being at the beginning.

I'll try to type more about California later. Strange place this land of...

Day Two ?

I'm not sure if I'd consider this Day Two of just a long extension of Day One. I got off work around 11:30 this morning. For you math inept out there, and for those keeping up with the blog, that's 28 1/2 hours of work. Straight. In a row. No break. No naps. I was working on my 11th wind around 9am:)

Thankfully, I stayed extremely busy. No E. coli! Some suspicious activity going on, but no E. coli. I'm testing more than spinach too. We're testing all sorts of greenery. Makes me hungry.

Apparently the JL lab in Modesto is in a crime-ridden area. A few people were shot right outside the lab and they keep finding bums in their dumpster! So the FBI has commandeered one of the mobile units parked in the parking lot to keep an eye on things. I thought people were joking about getting me a shotgun and flak jacket! I told them I prefer throwing things though and that ninja stars would be more acceptable. We'll have to wait and see if they come through on that.

Boss-man said he'd call when he was ready for me to come in tonight. He called me at 2. I'd been asleep for two hours. Sucky part is, he didn't need me to come in! He just wanted to call and ask me to bring a box of stuff from one lab to the other! "Go back to sleep" he says. THE NERVE! He called at 3:30 to have me come in. Fine, whatever, but why couldn't he ask about the box at 3:30 instead of waking me up! It gets better. I'm on the road to JL and he calls to tell me "Go back to bed". Super-boss-man was having somebody else bring media and supplies to Hans. THE NERVE! I'm awake and "functioning" and he tells me to go back to sleep. Not possible. So I went for breakfast at Taco Bell and am now camped out at the hotel waiting for the call to come in. Good stuff!

I am having a good time though. If I had more energy I'd probably explore the downtown area a bit. Maybe later this week. I think the library is only a block or two away!

Get Your Sleep On <><

Day One

Day One

The moment I’d been waiting for was merely minutes away when we (my boss, Hans, and I) pulled up to the Modesto lab (JL) this morning. I was going to see the big rig. The mobile unit. The lab with wheels.

The best way to describe it would be to call it a UPS truck minus the UPS-ness. Nothing special to the untrained eye. Nothing special to the trained eye! It’s just an amaizing thing though. It’s a mostly functioning lab! (In a few days/weeks it’ll hopefully be a FULLY functioning lab.) We can start the tests, but we need to be at JL to finish the testing.

This plant is different from the one I work for. Obviously. Meat vs. greens. It still smells, but it’s not a gut-wrenching, puking smell. There’s a different vibe here too. I don’t feel awkward or threatened walking around here compared to the plant in Greeley. The plant is near Gilroy and Salinas (2hours from Modesto) and it’s surrounded by the mountains. They aren’t the grand, purple majesty type, but they’re nice. It’s cool to see the mountains with the lettuce fields at the foothills.

It’s going to be a long night. I got up a little before 7am, it’s 7pm right now, and I’m supposed to work through the night running samples. Yes, I get to sleep during the day tomorrow, but I have to get through tonight first! Ce la vie. I asked for more, so I’m getting more. I was also told/asked today to stay for two weeks instead of the one. Imagine how tired I’m going to be in a few weeks: Two weeks of working in California, get back on a Saturday night, run home, work a day, do laundry, repack, head back to DIA Monday morning, fly to Ohio, work on my Grandma’s kitchen for a week, fly home, work a long week, head back to DIA again to pick up a friend who is coming to visit (yippee!!!), give a band concert, go hiking, etc with friend, drop friend off at DIA, work a few more days, get the weekend off. Phew! I got tired just typing it!

So cry, cry, cry. Everybody feel sorry for Colleen! She gets to travel and work and do what fun stuff! Boo-hoo. I know. Suck it up. ☺

I’ll let ya’ll know how the night and next day go. Happy eating.

From Carnivore-land to Herbivore-ville

I'm going to Californ-i-a Sunday night to help bring spinach back to the masses. Yes my friends and strangers, I am a bonafide microbiologist and ONLY I contain the needed skills to make sure the spinach is clean. Well, I suppose there are others who could handle it, but I'm the one who gets to go, so pbblt?

My boss has been out there for a week already and has built a mobile lab. That's right, it moves. We were on the phone and he had to pull over to transfer samples. How insane is that?!? So I'm pretty stoked to check out the setup and to NOT be working around meat. Boss-man says it smells, but of salad, not rendering blood, fat, dead cows, or other things associated with a slaughter house. :)

I'll probably drop a line or two while I'm out there to let you, my captive audience, know how things are going. So in the meantime, eat arugula, redleaf and romaine. And have hope, spinach will be back soon. (Sorry kids.)

Ah, the home buying experience. Could it be any worse? I'm sure it could, but seriously! Oy.

I've been going back and forth wanting to buy, but I didn't think finances would allow for a home. But now...with my WWF neighbors who have installed a bowling alley (I'm just guessing), I think it's time.

So now I have to decide house or townhome or condo? New, semi-used, or rundown? HOAs or fix my own roof? Dog or cat? Well, that one's easy. Dog. One question down, dozens to go!

Finances is a whole other issue! If I don't have a downpayment, do I get an additional loan that increases the mortgage or go with the mortgage insurance option which also ups my mortgage payment? Should I marry the bum on my corner, make him get a job, and have a second income contributing to the mortgage? Or just get a roomate? Ay de mi.

So if you'd like to contribute to the "Colleen Wants a Home Fund" leave a comment, give a call. I'll let you know where to send the cash, money-order, bonds...

Have faith my rent-compelled friends. Happy Trails my homeowner friends.

;)

OK Go

I love this video. Don't know much about the band yet, but this video is pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI&eurl=

Strike up the Band!

The Loveland Community Band had their first concert of the season last night. It was my first concert in THREE years!

Due to my hiatus of playing the clarinet, I'm hurting. I've been playing intermittently, but not enough to keep me in shape for two to three hour rehearsals and then what felt like a marathon of a concert. All the aches and pains were worth it though! It feels great to be back in a band:)

Normally, our concerts would be on Sundays, but this was a memorial concert for 9/11 Five Years Later. We played some great pieces and there was a slide show along with the music. Very moving.

God Bless America

mmm...Colorado...

This happy, Labor Day weekend is the "Taste of Colorado" located in Denver. Different restaurants from the area set up booths and "sell" either tastes or whole pieces of their specialties. Good food, crazy crowd! So MANY people. I wasn't expecting that:) I met up with some friends while down there and had a great afternoon.

I had Grilled Mahi with Shrimp and then a Berry Kabob for dessert. Yum! The strawberries of the kabob were amazing! I couldn't stop smiling. The skewers from the kabobs also came in handy as Hans started a sword fight with me. Finally! I was able to use my fencing skills:)

The Rapids are Calling to Me

My sis and I hit the mighty white-water rapids of the Arkansas River last weekend! It was the most super-fantatastic time I've ever had rafting. It had stormed the night before which meant that the river was running higher and faster than it usually would for that time of year. But I still couldn't believe our luck when we got to the rafting place (American Adventure) and the guides were going crazy! Apparently, it had rained so much that the river was running like it does in the early Spring with the snow melt! 24 hours before we got on the river it was running at 785 cfs. It was running at 2100 when we set off.

There were four people plus a guide on our raft. The guides were so concerned about getting flipped that they tossed an EXTRA guide onto our raft. It was insane!! I almost got tossed a few times and I think we almost lost my sister! We did this move called "surfing" a few times on the bottom half of some rapids. It was awesome. It's this move where we fill the front part of the raft and the back half raises out of the water. Then we did it again filling the side of the raft. Both the front and side that were filled were my side! It felt like I was being sucked in to the water. I was freaking, but I loved it:)

This particualr section of the river usually takes 2 1/2 hours to run at this time of year. It took us just over an hour with some play time. That's how fast the river was running. We worked practically the whole time:)

So the river was beautiful, the landscape was beautiful (Colorado has been very green this year), and going under the Royal Gorge Bridge was great. Now I've been on it and I've been under it.

Live it and Love it!

An Impromptu Expedition

I decided to go camping about 10:30 yesterday morning. So I threw some things into a backpack, threw my kayak onto the car, and hit the road. Carter Lake in Loveland was the destination, but would there be open campsites? YES! Plenty of open sites. I only had one set of neighbors and I was close to the lake.

I pitched my tent and hit the lake. I was a bit nervous seeing as how I'm used to the ponds in Greeley, but it was a beautiful day and there weren't many people on the lake. It was overcast majority of the time and when I got back to camp and wind storm kicked in. I was literally chasing my tent around the site, trying to secure it down. I ended up putting rocks in the tent to keep it down! I was worried during the night that the wind would hit the tent just right and the rocks would be thrown at my head, but the wind did no such thing.

Next morning I woke up and hit the lake again. It was wonderful. Besides a fisherman, I was the only one on the water. It was still windy and it even started to rain.

Great "weekend", very peaceful.

FINALLY!!

The BHAGs have finally done it! We clinched first place today. I've been with this team for a year and we've always juuust missed 1st. No More! We did it. Alright, I'm done. I'll find somewhere else to gloat:)

From Estes to Pikes Peak

Greetings!

This past weekend was FANTASTIC! Family from NY came out to visit my family in the Springs, so I joined the festivities. Our first stop was Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park. We drove Trail Ridge road and saw some amazing elk. The view from the top was outstanding. I can't believe I haven't been up there before! Everything was so green, the sky was so blue, and the clouds were perfect. We couldn't have asked for anything better. This picture with my cousin Mark was taken at the highest point in the park. Picturesqe. Beautiful. Perfect.

Sunday we took the cog rail up to Pikes Peak. Thankfully we took the first car first thing in the morning. It was a toasty day! On the ride up we saw elk, marmots, deer, and lots of sleepy people:) Again, a beautiful ride. It was a whopping 48 degrees at the top! Chilly, but nice. Great doughnuts too! I guess the view was good as well. The scenery pic is from the top of the peak. Pretty decent:)

That night we visited the Flying W Wrangler's Ranch. Great, sentimental place. The cowboys have changed, but the entertainment and food are still enjoyable.

This weekend definitely explained what a Rocky Mountain high is:)

They Came to Boston

Disclaimer: I wrote this at a BK in the Cleveland airport and I’m very, very tired. ☺

FOR BOSTON, FOR BOSTON!

There sure was a lot of rain for it being summer time in Boston. Apparently, within the last two weeks Boston received 18 inches of rain. That’s 50% of the ANNUAL precipitation! Or so my row mate on my flight there told me. I was excited all the same. I knew it would clear up eventually. And if not...a little (or lot) of rain wasn’t going to stop me!

This would be an incredibly long blog if I relayed what exactly went on, so I’ll just give the highlights (like sports on TV!).

Thursday night, I was welcomed into Boston. I flew in late, but no biggy. I was still the first girl in. Chris came in next; her flight had been delayed as well. Rachel and Angie came in about 11:30, 12:00. Rachel had worked over night and still managed to function. It was cute, we stayed up till almost 4am chitchatting and catching up with everybody’s lives. It was fantastic! We were loud and giggly.

Friday morning we were introduced to the T (the subway system). We had things pretty well planned out with directions and the like, so we weren’t worried about getting lost. Well, at least I wasn’t! Not necessarily sure if the other girls were as confident about my map reading abilities, but initially, Chris and I were tag-teaming getting around. Rachel and Angie were comfortable with everything very quickly as well. We started our tour out with the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail goes all over downtown Boston stopping at all the “important” places of history. This would include: Paul Revere’s house, the Old State House, the State House, the North Church, the Old Meeting Place, and a few others that I can’t think of right now. We didn’t do all these on Friday. We spread it out.

The State House is the current State Capital building. The governor wasn’t in (was he out campaigning for Presidency?) and we were given a private tour of the building. It was really nice. Our guide was a super sweet lady and she helped us out by giving the tour without the massive mob of school kids. I thought it was cool how she kept enforcing the fact that we were seeing and learning about Massachusetts history, not the US’s history. Even though they are practically one and the same, it’s MA’s history first, then the US’s. We heard that at a few different places as well.

And I’m breaking my word about being long winded! So…we saw lots of cool old places, you could feel the greatness of the past citizens resonating through the streets (or it was the subway), and we went to a Red Sox game!

The Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers and we didn’t get rained on because we were sitting under a balcony! So yea for us. The fans were great. The field was beautiful. We sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Sweet Caroline”. I think “Sweet Caroline” was definitely a high point for me. That was so cool! EVERYBODY was singing! They cut the music out at the “ba ba bas” and everybody fills it in by singing/shouting the part. Super great time. The subway ride home was fun too. Everybody was happy and wet.

Saturday greeted us with a big, wet kiss. It rained literally all day till about 7pm. Saturday took us back to the Freedom Trail to pick up where we had left off the day before. But since it was raining, we were slowed down a bit. And we had to get to the hotel to change for the evening activity, so we didn’t have that much time. All worth it. We went to the Old State House and saw the balcony where the Constitution was read to the people for the first time. We walked through the rooms that John Hancock and Sam Adams worked in. We could see through the windows to the exact spot where the Boston Massacre occurred. My imagination was going crazy seeing all the men there. Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market were also visited that day. Neat places. Basically just large markets. Had the feel of a Farmer’s Market about it, but without the vegetables.

But, like I wrote above, we had to haul it to get back to the hotel and get changed. We had to be at the Mystery Café by 7 or they’d give our seats away. Or so I was told. I got a bit upset because we were running behind schedule, which meant we were still standing in the subway, waiting for a train, after 7 o’clock. Honestly, I was a bit crazed. We got there and our salads were waiting for us. We were good. Obviously, I apologized. I think most of the people reading this know how I get about being on time and doing what I’m told☺. I think we all had a fun night. It was a casual dinner theatre place. There was no stage and the actors walked through the aisles of tables and interacted with the audience. It was more along the lines of loose-improv. They had a script, but deviated at will. I thought they were very funny. Definitely recommend it to people heading out that way. (mysterycafe.com)

Sunday was definitely an easier day. Again, headed to the Freedom Trail to finish that up. Learned some things about Paul Revere’s ride that I’d never heard before. For instance, I was told that the ride was to warn of the British coming (true), but what I didn’t know was that it wasn’t to warn of an attack. It was to warn of the British coming to arrest Hancock and Adams for treason. The ride was successful. The men weren’t arrested. But, Revere and the gentleman who hung the lamp were. They were later released for lack of evidence.

The Museum of Fine Arts was also one of our stops. Nice, but a teensy-bit disappointing. I was just expecting more, better. I think that the museum in Chicago is my favorite so far.

The best part of Sunday was walking across the harbor and seeing the USS Constitution, aka “Old Ironsides”. It’s just incredible that it’s undefeated and that it is still an active vessel in the Navy. This hundreds of years old ship can still go into battle! I think that’s very cool. I’ve seen movies with ships similar to this one, but it was great going onto one. Seeing how cramped the quarters really are and disbelieving that people lived that way for months at a time. Unbelievable.

While in Charlestown we saw part of a parade celebrating Bunker Hill Day; and back walking in Boston we came across a processional for St. Anthony in Little Italy. I really liked Little Italy. It felt like the real Boston. At least more real than what we had been experiencing. We met up with Chris at the Long Wharf (we had separated earlier, on purpose☺) and decided to head into Cambridge and check out Harvard. It was nothing special. They had laundry rooms just like any other dorm. I don’t know if we saw all of campus, but it seemed small. Sadly, the library was closed. It looked huge though.

For dinner we went back to the wharf. Rachel and I each had a 1 lb. lobster. Chris and Angie lived life on the wild side and went with steak and chicken (respectively). Kidding. You don’t like seafood? You don’t like seafood. It was great though trying to eat that crustacean. Rachel and I definitely made the majority of the entertainment that evening. I danced my “staring” lobster over at Angie and Rachel had to break the antennas off of hers. We ate the legs first (I did very well getting the meat out in single pieces) then went to the tail. That’s where the fun really started! I pulled my tail off first and saw it. Green poop. I just started laughing and then Rachel opened hers. I thought she was going to die! She couldn’t believe that there was poop inside her lobster! We were all laughing so hard over her reaction I’m surprised we didn’t pass out or get thrown out. She DID it though! I’m very proud of her. The lobster impressed neither of us and Rachel says she’s sticking with crab legs. It was a priceless experience all the same. Okay, not really. The lobster had a price tag, but her face? Priceless. Loved it. Chris and Angie enjoyed their meals as well.

We couldn’t find a place open that late on a Sunday night for dessert so we headed back to the hotel and called it an early night. Rachel and Angie were passed out by 11. Chris and I had been laughing over the weekend that Rachel and Angie were always the first asleep and the last to wake up. Sleepy girls.

Chris left first. I left about 2. The SD girls left about 6. The three of us headed back toward the Boston Commons for the morning and I was able to make it to the Boston Athenaeum. It’s just the oldest independent library in the nation. My main reason for liking it (besides the library part) was that it was built for everybody. They said that reading was for the masses, not just the rich. Oddly enough, only members are allowed past the first floor. Whatever. It was kinda neat going in there.

And that’s the story. I hopped my plane and headed home. It was a beautiful weekend. Only one question though. Where to next?

Team Prairie Dust

Had my first Ultimate Frisbee game today! It's a summer league that's fun, yet hardcore. My team won both of our games tonight. Everybody was really nice and helpful when they found out I'd never played organized before. I think I picked it up pretty quick though. I definitely need to wear my cleats next time though. Every time I needed to do a quick turn or I was trying to make a quick run for a toss, I would slide or fall.

Had a blast:)

I leave for Boston tomorrow morning!!!! So check back in a few days for some Boston words:)

The Pink Ladies

A few of the ladies from my outdoor team decided to get together to play at the SI KickIt 3v3 tourney this weekend. None of us had ever played a real 3v3 game, so we were definitely excited! We didn't do to bad. We finally got the hang of things by our final game on Sunday. So while we didn't play great, we didn't do to bad. We got 4th! We also decided to try and play in a few more tournaments this summer.

I scored two goals which were not allowed since I was on the wrong half of the field. You can only score on the offensive side and I was standing out our goal. I almost had an assist, but my girl hit the ball too hard and missed. It would've been a beautiful play if she had made the goal.

I was trying to avoid a collision b/t my teammate and the other team's girl when the other girl (already on the ground) reached out and grabbed my ankle, pulling me down. I called her a pansy. :) She apologized after the game. She admitted that it was childish.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Got to watch some other teams play and it was new soccer experience! Oooo, plus, I got a Tshirt!! Always a good thing.